Why small-scale farmers and livestock keepers should be the focus of the global food security agenda–Jimmy Smith

More than a thousand delegates are attending the International Grassland Congress in Sydney, Australia, this week, a meeting that only takes place every four years. Giving the opening keynote presentation on Mon 16 Sep 2013 was Jimmy Smith an animal scientist and food security expert.

‘. . . Delegates have heard that reducing the carbon footprint of global agriculture is just one challenge.

Dr Jimmy Smith, head of the International Livestock Research Institute, says the more immediate question is how to feed the world’s booming population.

‘”Estimates show that between now and 2050 the world will need to produce about one billion tonnes more cereal, and about half of that would be used for livestock feed and the other half for human consumption,” he said.